Put God before material things

(James 5:1) Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. :2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. :3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. :4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. :5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. :6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you. :7 Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. :8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

This sounds terrible, almost as if God is angry at rich people. Do not misread this scripture my friends, God loves rich and poor alike and invites all to come to His banqueting table. In fact He has promised us earthly blessings and prosperity. The problem is that the love of money, or greed, is equal to idolatry. This is an unhealthy desire to become rich in earthly wealth while compromising on heavenly principles. E.g. if you do not pay your laborers a good wage, or you withold their wages then you are cheating them and their cry is before God. If you are running to get money and sacrifice your wife and kids on the altar of material gain then you are not pleasing God. It is better to live a simple lifestyle with love in the house and no enemies than to be rich with a trail of broken lives behind you. Our world will tell us "you need a new car, cellphone, boat, motorbike,etc" and that mostly leads us to buying on credit. Now the economies of the world is showing their weakness and all of us are in debt, including us, and we are all crying for deliverance. I have come to realize that immediate gratification is not always God's way. There is value in working for something you really want and putting other things on hold. We have decided to work our way out of debt as we are nose deep in it now. In order to do that we set some things aside and delay their purchase in order to make payments to creditors. We know Jesus redeemed us from the debt and we are standing on His word that He will set us free from it, but we still have to pay it and pay it until it's done. Friends, it is time to get our lives in order and seek the Lord. Set your priorities straight, with Jesus being the chief priority. Put mammon (money god) in his place, in hell, and crown Jesus Lord of your life, including your material needs. I want to encourage you to get out of debt. God often lays it on my heart, and He has for many years, that we as Christians should not owe man anything. Let US obey Him today and get ready for His return.

If you do not know Jesus as your friend, then maybe you have not been born again. Please follow the link "How to receive Jesus" on the front page of our website and read the message there. It will assist you in receiving and applying the work of Christ in your life.

Schalk Steyn
www.steynministries.org

Rule with the Creator

It is critically important for us as humans to steward, manage or rule this planet in a way that is was designed to be stewarded. Our power hungry nature and lust for personal enrichment have caused us to extract and not manage the resources of this incredibly beautiful and awesomely created planet we live on. It is the church of Jesus that should know the difference and start influencing others to be better stewards as well. The poor and needy also needs to be trained how to farm sustainably as part of the ecological challenges we face on earth is directly related to poverty. Mass clearing of indigenous forests and cutting of trees for firewood poses a major problem for our future well-being on this planet. The governments of many of these nations could not care less and therefore the Body of Christ has the mandate to incorporate such awareness into their bible training programs and church teachings.

till later
skalla